Hello.

My name is Brian H. Marston. I’m running for school board out of a sense of gratitude and duty. I attended public schools from kindergarten through college and benefited immensely from the education I received. I want others to have the same opportunities.

To whom much is given, much is expected. I’ve gotten comfortable in my old age, which is nice, but comfort often leads to complacency. I’m willing and able to step up to serve the St. Louis community.  I believe in the sanctity of public education. Democracy depends on it. Both are under attack. I want to set an example of engaged citizenship for my kids and others.

I’m the proud parent of two St. Louis Public Schools students, ages 10 and 16. They’ve attended four SLPS schools during the last 12 years. I’ve been a city resident since 1997 and pay property taxes on a car, house, and two four-family apartment buildings. In 2024, that amounted to $6,038 in revenue for SLPS, roughly what former Superintendent Keisha Scarlett and her department spent using district credit cards for coffee cups, charcuterie boards, a birthday lunch, and flowers ($6,006). Taxpayer money should be spent wisely for its intended purpose, not treated as a personal expense account by someone being paid $268,000 a year in a district where new teachers make $49,745.

I’m a first-generation college graduate with an education degree from Mizzou, in addition to degrees in math and philosophy. I earned all three summa cum laude and am a member of Phi Beta Kappa. If I’d done my student teaching my senior year instead of starting a web development company, I’d be certified to teach high school math and Spanish.

I was the director of North St. Louis YouthBuild, a construction training and GED program in the Hyde Park neighborhood. It was the hardest and most meaningful thing I’ve done. I recruited 47 students; hired, supervised, and evaluated a staff of six; handled other human resources functions, including payroll and insurance coverage; set up the school’s computer network and provided technical support for the staff and students; designed and implemented organizational policies, schedules, and processes; developed partnerships with other service providers; coordinated volunteers; served as the media spokesperson; taught academic classes; tracked student contact, demographic, achievement, and attendance data; oversaw leadership development activities of the Youth Policy Committee; sought out employers to hire graduates; created and managed a $630,000 annual budget; wrote grant proposals; solicited donations from individuals; and made reports to funders and the board of directors. We converted a two-story, 112-year-old Sunday school building to a two-family home. The roof was in the basement when we started. 

As president of Metropolis St. Louis, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating and promoting an environment in the city of St. Louis that attracts and retains young people, I oversaw a board of 11 directors and represented a paid membership of 1,000 people. We partnered on projects with more than 90 community organizations during my term.

In another volunteer role, I was president and a co-founder of The Commonspace, a nonprofit organization that promoted grassroots civics and culture in St. Louis. We published an online magazine and operated an innovative community center at 615 North Grand where we held events ranging from bboy jams to knitting circles, sometimes at the same time.

I was vice-president of BWorks, where I helped teach kids how to repair bikes and use computers to develop their leadership, academic, work, and entrepreneurial skills. I’ve also served as president of the Tower Grove Heights Neighborhood Association in south city and treasurer of Friedens Neighborhood Foundation in north city.

I’m a web developer at WashU Medicine and have more than 25 years of information technology  experience. I’m data driven, some would say data obsessed. As an example, I’ve used a counter app on Halloween for seven years to create a heat map visualization of the time distribution of trick-or-treaters. We had 641 kids come to our door in 2024, a new record. Halloween is my favorite holiday because it’s a public celebration, rather than a private one.

I strive to connect and support people. I’m fiercely independent and not beholden to any special interests, unless you count SLPS students. As a responsible, ethical, capable grown-up, I pledge to listen with curiosity and humility to all stakeholders. If the voters decide I’m one of the three best options during this election, I’ll work together with the six other board members and superintendent to help all SLPS students fulfill their potential through the power of education.